match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 1 - 1 Hibs (Morelos 25)

[DMAA 3,658]

10 hours ago, Rousseau said:

Putting Lafferty in is not going to create us more chances.

This isn’t true @Rousseau. We had no shots on target after an hour with the 4-5-1 against Saints. After switching to 4-4-2 with Lafferty partnering Morelos we had a flurry of chances, almost all of which Lafferty contributed to directly or indirectly. Morelos was allowed to get into goalscoring positions rather than constantly battling for balls with nobody running beyond him anyway. It is not true that chances only come about from “creative players”. A chance can be “created” from a long ball being headed down by one forward to another. Or from one forward pulling one centre back out wide, giving the other forward the space he needs to get through on goal. All happened in half an hour against Saints and was the way we scored most of our modern history goals pre 2012. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by DMAA

[DMAA 3,658]

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

This isn’t true @Rousseau. We had no shots on target after an hour with the 4-5-1 against Saints. After switching to 4-4-2 with Lafferty partnering Morelos we had a flurry of chances, almost all of which Lafferty contributed to directly or indirectly. Morelos was allowed to get into goalscoring positions rather than constantly battling for balls with nobody running beyond him anyway. It is not true that chances only come about from “creative players”. A chance can be “created” from a long ball being headed down by one forward to another. Or from one forward pulling one centre back out wide, giving the other forward the space he needs to get through on goal. All happened in half an hour against Saints and was the way we scored most of our modern history goals pre 2012. 

Take two famous goals at Elland Road. The first a long ball headed on by McCoist for Hateley to half volley in. The second a through ball out wide to Hateley who whipped it in to McCoist who was in his goalscoring position to head it in. The presence of two strikers on the park does create chances and for a Rangers fan to suggest it doesn’t is bizarre to me given our history.  

[Walterbear 557]

2 hours ago, DMAA said:

Take two famous goals at Elland Road. The first a long ball headed on by McCoist for Hateley to half volley in. The second a through ball out wide to Hateley who whipped it in to McCoist who was in his goalscoring position to head it in. The presence of two strikers on the park does create chances and for a Rangers fan to suggest it doesn’t is bizarre to me given our history.  

Leeds murdered us for long periods in that game btw although we toyed with them late on. I would agree we need to be flexible but build a particular squad to suit an overall style of play and repeat this through the ranks and that is MA job as I understand it although tactics in individual games are up to SG.

 

I think 4-4-2 as a club style will be easier for teams like Motherwell to counteract over the long term but when Celtic play at a high level they destroy these clubs. We need better players to play a system that these teams cannot easily neuter but where necessary and for tactical moments or periods in a game we should be able to adjust. I think they are neutralising us at the moment because we don’t have the quality and SG keeps saying the players are not following instructions , which is his message imo to the board and MA that not enough quality is being brought in.  

[DMAA 3,658]

9 hours ago, Walterbear said:

Leeds murdered us for long periods in that game btw although we toyed with them late on. I would agree we need to be flexible but build a particular squad to suit an overall style of play and repeat this through the ranks and that is MA job as I understand it although tactics in individual games are up to SG.

 

I think 4-4-2 as a club style will be easier for teams like Motherwell to counteract over the long term but when Celtic play at a high level they destroy these clubs. We need better players to play a system that these teams cannot easily neuter but where necessary and for tactical moments or periods in a game we should be able to adjust. I think they are neutralising us at the moment because we don’t have the quality and SG keeps saying the players are not following instructions , which is his message imo to the board and MA that not enough quality is being brought in.  

I agree with most of that. I’m not saying we should play 4-4-2 all season necessarily, it’s just about looking at the players available and adapting. I don’t think Gerrard can blame his players for Wednesday, he was asking players to play a role they had no business playing.

Edited December 28, 2018 by DMAA

[Rousseau 10,823]

11 hours ago, DMAA said:

You can’t replace Arfield with McCrorie and expect us to keep creating chances and scoring goals. And we have no right to expect Coulibaly and Jack to play as “no 8s”. We are currently playing with three no 6s (defensive midfielders).

 

I understand the loyalty to Gerrard but I am nothing but angry when I watch attack after attack after attack breaking down because we are playing Mackeleles as Lampards and expecting players who have made a living out of tackling to magically become flair players who can be relied on to open up defences. Coulibaly is getting slaughtered because Gerrard is stubbornly forcing the system on the players available to him rather than adapting and playing a 4-4-2 based formation with Lafferty on. 

 

11 hours ago, DMAA said:

This isn’t true @Rousseau. We had no shots on target after an hour with the 4-5-1 against Saints. After switching to 4-4-2 with Lafferty partnering Morelos we had a flurry of chances, almost all of which Lafferty contributed to directly or indirectly. Morelos was allowed to get into goalscoring positions rather than constantly battling for balls with nobody running beyond him anyway. It is not true that chances only come about from “creative players”. A chance can be “created” from a long ball being headed down by one forward to another. Or from one forward pulling one centre back out wide, giving the other forward the space he needs to get through on goal. All happened in half an hour against Saints and was the way we scored most of our modern history goals pre 2012. 

Talk about stubborn.

 

They're defensive players, but they're not playing defensive roles. We don't play with three 6s. Matuidi, a defensive midfielder, plays Left Wing for Juventus. Is he a 6? No; he may be defensive but he's playing a wide role. I'm not suggesting they're [our midfield] any good at it, but I'm not sure any of our players get pass marks this month; they look shattered, physically and mentally, and injuries have taken their toll on our options.  

 

You're not suggesting we go back to 4-4-2, and getting the 'wee man' to feed off long balls to the 'big man', are you? That's brutal stuff. We'll never make any progress that way. I understand your loyalty to a certain way of playing but the game's moved on. 

 

Anyway, I'll leave you to it. I'm bored. We'll just agree to disagree.

[compo 7,229]

Once a game starts most formations to a point go out the window cross when they the white line the players should know what to do close down the opposition force their attackers wide it's a simple game made difficult with some of these tactical managers .

[buster. 5,261]

Football boils down to finding ways to win matches and/or finding ways not to lose matches.

There is a great deal more involved than just formations.

 

Teams that tend to win matches consistently enough to win league championships tend to have a solid base from which to work.

That base is an infrastructure, also a financial and managerial  ability to put together a squad with enough depth and quality from which to take on a season (lack of depth/quality is what is very apparent this month). 

 

It's as plain as the nose on your face that we haven't yet got that base. Neither is it really a secret because we are rebuilding and looking to improve much of the club.

 

#Patience&Realism

 

If we don't employ some patience, then my guess is we'll continually struggle to get to where want to go up until the point of severe financial problems.

 

Edited December 28, 2018 by buster.

[Walterbear 557]

That’s my reading Buster. Gerard talks about the big picture and I think the underlying issues are still there. We know where we need to get too but perhaps the early success especially in Europe has created a false expectation when considered with financial reality and the style we need long term. 

 

We have played 12 more games than Aberdeen and 14 more than Killie for example and we are only in December. Saturday will be our 9th game in December. It’s pretty obvious the energy levels are low. I’d take a draw against Celtic right now and recoup. 

[DMAA 3,658]

2 hours ago, Rousseau said:

They're defensive players, but they're not playing defensive roles.

This is exactly my point!  We are asking Mackeleles to be Lampards rather than adapting to the selection crisis and that’s why our attacks keep breaking down. 

 

Re your 4-4-2 q, not at all. As I said in another post I’m advocating 4-4-2 with the available players. I’ve also advocated using it when 4-5-1 fails, aka plan b. I’m all for buying the flair players necessary to make 4-5-1/4-3-3 work but as I said at the close of the last transfer window, attacking midfield is the one area Celtic are far superior to us. 

[DMAA 3,658]

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

This is exactly my point!  We are asking Mackeleles to be Lampards rather than adapting to the selection crisis and that’s why our attacks keep breaking down. 

 

Re your 4-4-2 q, not at all. As I said in another post I’m advocating 4-4-2 with the available players. I’ve also advocated using it when 4-5-1 fails, aka plan b. I’m all for buying the flair players necessary to make 4-5-1/4-3-3 work but as I said at the close of the last transfer window, attacking midfield is the one area Celtic are far superior to us. 

Just to add, my interpretation of 4-4-2 is not old fashioned long ball football. It certainly helps if we’re going to do that anyway as we have done often this season, but in my opinion 4-4-2 doesn’t at all mean abandoning a modern approach to attack.